Born Again
by lucky7steph
Summary: Sequel to After Life. Stephanie returns to the Phantomhive manor with Ciel and Sebastian while adjusting to her new life. It won't remain peaceful for long though as a new mystery unfolds and Stephanie attempts to discover more details from the night of her attack.
1. Author's Note and Prologue

**Hello again! So, since several of you have been asking, I've decided to publish chapter one of the sequel! I want to be upfront with you though, I've only written four chapters as of now, and originally I wanted to hold off on publishing it until I completed it. I have a bit of writer's block and haven't sat down to write in a while so I'm not entirely sure I know where this story is going. That being said, please let me know if you like it so far! I'm trying to fit more characters in that haven't made an appearance yet so expect to see more familiar faces in this story. There's not much of a plot yet, but I thought it would be good to establish the sort of atmosphere in the Phantomhive manor now that Stephanie is a demon. Enjoy!**

_Prologue_

Rebirth and renewal.

Discovery and unexplored desires.

Betrayal or loyalty?

Will you give in to the darkness?


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

Sebastian had been nothing but helpful and kind. Well… as kind as a demon could be, to Stephanie ever since her return to the Phantomhive manor.

After the events that transpired at the close of the Emily Jameson case, Ciel had agreed to allow the newly turned ex-shinigami demon to continue working as a sort of jack-of-all-trades at the manor.

She helped out in whatever way was needed, whether it was overseeing Bard in the kitchen and saving the dinner from being completely obliterated, or preventing Meyrin from breaking another set of china. She was also a backup bodyguard and assistant for Ciel, should Sebastian ever find himself unable to come to his aid immediately. Although the newly fledged demon did not have complete awareness of her new powers and form, she was much stronger and naturally possessed the inhuman abilities that were characteristic of demons.

For example, normal tasks took half of the time to complete, and physically, her power was unmatched if compared to a human. For Stephanie, this took some getting used to, and she found herself relying on the older demon butler for guidance.

Sebastian of course, took full advantage of this, his sarcastic, playful attitude constantly taunting the new girl.

It was interesting to him to watch her struggle with the emotions, still slightly present in her personality. For those that were not "born" as a demon, it was sometimes inevitable that their previous selves would clash with the new demon side of them. Therefore, emotions and feelings weren't entirely absent. The most difficult part he observed, was her separation from her prior life as a shinigami.

It was evident that she took her work seriously, much like her older brother William, and she shared his reserved and determined demeanor. At times she did express more emotions than her uptight brother, which continued to contradict her now demon form. Due to her previous life as a shinigami, Stephanie still retained her emotions and personality, though muted somewhat.

Although she wasn't contracted to Ciel and had no reason to remain loyal to him, she felt obligated to repay him for taking her in when she was helpless and amnesic. Similarly, Sebastian had no duty to oblige by her older brother's wish that he watch over the girl, yet a small part of him wanted to. He was intrigued by her story and was curious as to the details of what had happened to her that night. The fact that another demon in the surrounding London area had claimed her as his own left him feeling a bit unsettled. He was just as eager as she herself was to find this mystery demon.

Even as he watched her now, his eyes trailed to the seal on her neck that peeked out from beneath the high collar of her shirt and jacket.

She did not wear a typical servant uniform, seeing as how her situation was slightly different. Ciel had provided her with an assortment of clothes, including a maid outfit similar to Meyrin's, but she refused to wear it, preferring to stick to the more boyish fashion of a fitted vest and jacket – most similar to her previous attire as a shinigami. She had however been experimenting with skirts and found that she rather liked them. Thank goodness Nina was always willing to lend her new clothes to try out that remained feminine, yet…functional.

She paused as she finished cleaning a windowsill and spoke suddenly, sensing the butler's presence in the room.

"Do you have something to say Sebastian? Or do you always stare at the servants as they perform their daily tasks?" she said, not even bothering to turn around to face him.

He detected a bit of sarcasm in her question, and decided to have a little fun with the girl.

"Only those that do their job so poorly," he emphasized the last word, smirking.

Darkness radiated off of her at the mention of subpar work. She could sense the teasing in his voice, yet she loathed being imperfect or inefficient, even at a meaningless task such as cleaning. The crow demon could feel the tension in the room as her heartbeat increased.

"Well, let's see you do better then," she retorted, spinning around to face him, meeting his eyes with her glowing pink ones and a venomous smirk.

Just for fun, he had been trying to coax her true demonic form out of her for weeks when he happened to encounter her alone, but he could never get the girl riled up enough to break her normally calm façade.

Perhaps she really was too critical of herself if she could get flustered so easily at the criticism of her work.

Before he even had the chance to reply, Stephanie threw the cloth she had been using to clean the windowsills into his face, momentarily blocking his vision.

She took the opportunity to grab a decorative sabre off of the wall and thrust it toward the butler, but was met with a loud 'clang' as he held up a similar weapon in defense.

She wasn't surprised that the more skilled demon had picked up on her ploy. It felt like no matter how hard she tried, she always failed to catch him off guard.

_Damn he's good!_

The tip of his sword caught in the hilt of her sabre and he quickly slashed it out of her hand, leaving a streak of red across her palm.

The weapon clattered across the room as he returned his own to its spot on the wall.

"While that attempt was nowhere near as pathetic as yesterday's, it seems you still have yet to best me Ms. Spears," his velvety voice spoke.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes as she licked her own blood off of her palm, eyes never leaving his.

"You may be stronger than a human in this new state, but you're no match for a fellow demon like me," he observed, walking over to her and gently taking her hand in his, watching as the gash healed itself.

"You forget this is all new to me," she pouted, still internally punishing herself for losing even a petty scuffle.

Sebastian smirked. She really was rather childish. The girl had a fierce competitive side, but was an extremely sore loser. Doing less than perfect work was a foreign concept to her.

"It will take time, and I will do my best to train you enough to build up your skills. I can see that you're senses are acute, but your reaction time is still rather slow. That will steadily improve after more combat situations like these," he said, while picking up her sabre and replacing it on the adjacent wall.

She sighed, visibly annoyed and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Why did this have to happen to me Sebastian? I was content with my life before this, and I was good at it. I'm completely lost now and I don't know what to do," she admitted truthfully, something which was usually difficult for the girl.

"While I can't change your current situation Miss Spears, might I suggest serving the master his tea now? You're two minutes late," he replied cheekily, clicking his pocket watch shut in front of her nose.

"You know I didn't mean it like that!" she grumbled trailing after him.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is here! I promise the next will be more exciting. :)**

_Chapter 2_

Stephanie had assumed that doing chores for the young earl would be boring and dull, but she quickly found that they became very useful ways to hone her demon skills. She would regularly practice with Sebastian and soon enough, her speed and accuracy rivaled his own.

"Stephanie, I believe the post has arrived, if you would be so kind to bring it to the master," Sebastian said, taking out his pocket watch giving her a knowing glance.

She smiled and nodded, and sped out of the room, back in a flash, holding a small stack of envelopes, handing them to Sebastian.

"As requested_… Bassy,"_ she said, imitating Grell's voice and using his obnoxious nickname for the butler, knowing it would strike a nerve.

"I'm going to pretend not to have heard that and congratulate you on beating your old record. You were one tenth of a second faster this time," he noted, flashing a small smile. He refused to give in to her taunts, which he knew irked her.

Stephanie inwardly growled, annoyed that nothing could break the butler's calm demeanor.

The two walked side by side to Ciel's office, to deliver the new mail.

The tall butler opened the door for her as she walked in and paused off to the side, waiting for him to enter as well.

"Young master, your post has arrived," Sebastian said, bowing before placing the envelopes on the desk.

Ciel leafed through the letters, reading a few from the Queen, including some new cases that were surely to become his new priority. For a week, there had been general calm around London, which never lasted for long. It appeared that there was a string of unexplained deaths among wealthy businessmen in the city, who had been linked to somewhat shady business dealings. He sighed, already set on solving this new case, when the last letter in the stack caught his eye.

It was unique and held an unrecognizable seal. He sliced open the envelope with his silver letter opener and his eyes scanned the contents. His face took on a confused and suspicious expression and he gave a strange 'hmph' sound at the end, pondering whatever was written inside. He quickly folded the letter and placed it under the rest.

His odd display did not go unnoticed by the two demons in the room, and Sebastian caught on rather quickly that something was troubling him.

"My lord is everything alright?" he questioned lightly.

Ciel answered gruffly, "Yes, we have new orders from the Queen. You two are to investigate at once and report back tomorrow. That is all."

"Very good my lord," bowed Sebastian, while Stephanie just nodded.

The two exited, leaving the boy to his own thoughts as they went to prepare the afternoon tea.

"Did you notice something was off about Ciel when he read that letter? What do you think it said?" she questioned of the butler beside her.

"It's best to leave matters to the master himself. He'll ask our aid if he feels it necessary," he responded seriously, though resolved to later discover the sender of the letter.

* * *

The day continued rather normally, that is… until she appeared.

As she had yet to be introduced to any of Ciel's acquaintances or friends _if he had any_, she thought, Stephanie had no idea what to expect when she heard a commotion down the hall near the front doors.

"CIELLLLLLL!" came a high pitched voice from the foyer and Stephanie's eyes went wide with surprise as she had been in the kitchen mending a set of teacups that Meyrin had shattered. It broke her out of her concentration and as moved to check the source of the voice, Sebastian appeared in the doorway.

He sighed and motioned to her to follow him, "That would be Lady Elizabeth, the young master's fiancée."

"Fiancée?! I had no idea! He's so young…" she trailed, thinking of the small boy.

"The young master is rather mature for his age as I expect you've already gathered, however Lady Elizabeth is-"

He was cut off abruptly as the three servants rushed past him, running away from what looked to be an extremely bubbly, blonde haired girl, bounding after them with frilly, colorful material.

"Wait! I simply must redecorate this dreary place, starting with everyone in it! Oh, hello Sebastian," the small girl said politely before curtseying to the butler.

He put a gloved hand over his chest and bowed respectfully to the child, "Lady Elizabeth, it's a pleasure."

Stephanie eyed Meyrin, Finny, and Bard, who were huddled in the corner.

"Nuh uh! We're not going to have what happened last time she came here happen again!" Bard shouted, while Meyrin kept a firm grip on her glasses and Finny hid behind them both.

"But you were all so cute!" the girl giggled.

"Um, you three, where's Tanaka?" Stephanie spoke up, looking around until she spotted the man with a huge yellow bow on top of his head.

"Ho, Ho, Ho!" was the only response he gave as he contentedly sipped his tea.

"Um, excuse me Miss, but who are you?" came a small voice as Stephanie felt a tug at her jacket.

Glancing down she saw Elizabeth and smiled at the girl. _She may be bubbly and obnoxious, but at least she has manners, and she is rather… cute,_ she thought.

"Oh, please excuse me Lady Elizabeth, this is Stephanie Spears, she's the young master's ahh… tutor," Sebastian stated before she could even talk.

"Sebastian I can introduce _myself _thank you very much," she growled, catching the eyes of the other demon, which held a mischievous glint in them.

"Heehee, you're so cute! Are you Sebastian's girlfriend?" the girl asked giggling.

Stephanie blushed and somewhere off in the distance she could hear Meyrin's exclaims of, "I knew it, yes I did! That's why she's here! Now I'll never have a chance with Sebastian!"

"Of course not!"

"Not in the slightest."

Came the simultaneous responses of both demons as they locked eyes in a glaring match.

"Oh, well it seems like you don't get along very well… maybe I can fix that! Sebastian, would you tell Ciel that I want to hold a private ball for him and get him ready? We'll be back!" the small girl said taking Stephanie's hand and dragging her poor maid Paula along at the same time.

"Certainly, Lady Elizabeth" replied Sebastian, smirking.

_Really this girl has incredible strength_, thought Stephanie, as she was led up the stairs to a room she assumed the girl occupied when she stayed over.

"Uhh, Lady Elizabeth, what are we doing?"

"Oh, please just call me Lizzie!" she smiled and continued, "We're going to have a ball! Just a private one, here in the manor!" she squealed.

"Hmm, really cause I wasn't aware that was on tonight's agenda…"mumbled Stephanie sarcastically under her breath.

"What did you say?"

"Oh nothing!" she smiled back at Lizzie with an innocent expression.

"Ok then! Paula, can you help pick out something for Stephanie to wear?"

"Lizzie, I don't need anything, really these clothes are fine," she stated, fingering the material of her shirt.

"Don't be silly, you can't dance in those!" she laughed.

"I think I have just the thing…" she said, digging through a rather large trunk of what appeared to be clothes.

Stephanie feared that she would be done up in some horrible frilly, puffy dress similar to one that Lizzie herself was wearing, but instead she pulled out one of the most elegant dresses she had ever seen.

"This belonged to my Aunt," the girl said sadly, looking at the dress.

"It's not really my style, so I never wanted it, but it reminded me of her," she trailed off, with a small smile.

"I think it's better suited to you," she said, holding it toward the demon, who was stunned to see the more serious side of the previously childish girl. Her eyes held a sea of emotions and revealed her to be much more mature than she let on at first glance. It was as if Stephanie could feel the sacrifice that Lizzie had been forced to endure, in the attempt to be the very best, positive, and outgoing little girl she was supposed to be for her fiancée. While it may not be easy for her to be submissive and put on a girlish façade, she does so anyway just to please Ciel in the most selfless way possible, Stephanie realized.

"I- thank you Lizzie, I'd be honored to wear it," she smiled taking the beautiful piece of clothing in both hands as if it were a fragile dove.

"Please, keep it," she stated, with hopeful eyes at the older woman.

_I don't deserve this compassion._

"Now! Let's get ready, shall we?" piped the younger girl, immediately taking on her bubbly charismatic charm again.


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello dear readers! I know it's been a while but here is the next chapter, can you guess which characters might appear soon? Enjoy!**

_Chapter 3_

"I still don't understand why she has to constantly do this," came Ciel's annoyed voice as Sebastian finished fastening the remaining buttons on his master's formal attire.

"My lord, Lady Elizabeth is one of the few sources of happiness in your life, perhaps you should give her more credit. She does all of 'this' to please you," Sebastian smiled at the young boy, who just huffed in return, knowing that his butler was right.

Truthfully, Ciel quite enjoyed Lizzie's company even when she was acted too happy and bubbly. He would be devastated if any harm ever came to her, and knew that he would protect her if she was ever in danger. However, he didn't know that his young fiancée was probably just as capable of protecting herself.

Quickly, both males turned their attention to the stairs and noticed their respective female counterparts descending the stairs. Lizzie looked ecstatic as she walked down hand in hand with Stephanie, who was wearing… a dress?

Both Ciel and Sebastian glanced at each other with a shocked expression.

The stubborn ex-shinigami NEVER wore dresses. In fact, she insisted on never trying a single one on because they weren't 'practical' enough. It was a wonder that she had somehow taken a liking to skirts lately.

Yet, here she was, in a simple yet stunning gown that suited her perfectly. Perhaps Elizabeth really was a miracle worker.

As Ciel approached his fiancée and asked for a dance, she beamed and accepted enthusiastically. This time her plan had worked much better than the previous one which had ended with her throwing and shattering Ciel's ring.

"Lizzie, thank you for arranging this. I truly appreciate having you in my life," said Ciel honestly, and Lizzie practically started crying as tears welled up in her eyes.

As Stephanie watched the two dance, she made her way over to the rest of the servants and the butler who was currently smirking at her.

Feeling self-conscious in her new dress, she glared at Sebastian, "Don't even think about making fun of me for wearing this," she grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her.

The butler raised an eyebrow and responded, "On the contrary Miss Spears, I was going to compliment you. You do realize that dresses actually make you look more like a woman? Perhaps you should wear them more often," he joked.

Instead of throwing back a sarcastic remark, she smiled in return.

She knew what was coming. Sebastian was making the move to ask her to dance, but she decided to have some fun with him and derail his intentions.

"Finny!" she exclaimed sidestepping the butler to face the gardener.

"Care to dance?" she asked, curtseying and holding out a gloved hand to the young boy.

"Of course Miss Stephanie!" he beamed.

Sebastian blinked a few times, registering what just happened. _Damn! How did she know what I was going to do?_

He turned back to see the pair dancing. She locked eyes with him and stuck her tongue out at him, mid-laugh, something that went unnoticed by everyone else, but he quickly caught.

The demon butler narrowed his eyes which briefly flashed pink and smiled at her immature display.

Two can play this game, he thought, grabbing Meyrin suddenly and practically dragged her onto the dance floor.

The poor maid almost died right then and there just for the fact that she and the handsome butler had made contact. If she wasn't so mesmerized by Sebastian's dancing skills she probably would have had a massive nosebleed.

Even though the clumsy maid barely knew how to dance, Sebastian made their moves look effortless on the dance floor, smirking at Stephanie as she risked a glance at them. When he had her attention, he took the opportunity to dip Meyrin almost off of her feet, their noses barely touching, as the song ended.

Elizabeth took notice of the other couples that had been dancing, now that the song had ended and was happy to see her maid Paula and Bard having fun and talking animatedly. However, she also saw the glares exchanged between Ciel's butler and her newest female friend. She was determined to push the two together and followed her instincts.

"FINNYYY! Dance with me!" the blonde exclaimed, bounding over to the two.

"Sorry Stephanie, but I'll have to steal your partner, I have to have a dance with the world's cutest gardener!" Lizzie said sweetly, which made Finny blush. He was probably completely confused at all of the attention he was receiving.

Stephanie laughed, a little shocked at the girl's forcefulness and quickness to abandon Ciel, who was staring with an odd expression on his face.

"Well my young lord, I can't leave you alone on the dance floor now can I?" Stephanie mused, taking the boys hands in hers as the next song started playing on the gramophone. Surprisingly, their height difference wasn't so drastic, even though she was taller than the boy._ His heeled boots must have added a few inches_, she thought.

"Uh- uhm," was all he managed to get out, still confused at Lizzie's abandonment. Usually she was too clingy. What was going on?

"That's alright Ciel. Just let your feet do the talking," she laughed at his bewilderment.

She chanced a glance at Sebastian who looked like his eye was twitching.

_Is he really that possessive over Ciel? Just because he's contracted to him?_ She wondered, inwardly laughing at the thought.

_Maybe it's a demon thing. I can have some fun with this, _she mused.

She brought the hand that was resting on Ciel's shoulder and trailed a finger down his face, "You're so cute in this outfit Ciel, I don't think I've seen you this dashing before. Lady Elizabeth is a lucky girl," she purred in a low, sweet voice next to Ciel's ear.

The young boy was too flabbergasted and confused to even react.

"St- Stephanie, wha- what are you doing?" he stuttered.

She giggled and shot Sebastian a wicked smile, "Oh, nothing young master, just admiring your… scent. Your soul smells delicious," she drawled.

She was in fact, bluffing and couldn't give a damn about his soul. The flavor didn't seem right to her, not like officer Philip's had when he was filled with terror at her appearance. She just knew that it would send Sebastian over the edge to hear her say it.

As expected, his uncanny senses picked up on her words and his eyes flashed with anger and…jealousy? As she turned around with Ciel, she lost sight of said butler and wondered where he had gone.

All too suddenly, she felt a hand firmly grip her shoulder with crushing strength. Their dance ended as she felt a face near hers from behind.

"Please refrain from molesting my young master if you would, Miss Spears. It isn't very becoming of you, and I would appreciate it if you would get your hands off of my Bocchan," Sebastian said threateningly.

Ciel stood there awkwardly, not having heard his butler's words, but was quickly grabbed by his fiancée, and was soon distracted from the clashing demons.

"It appears we've been ignoring the real issue at hand here haven't we? This fight is between us, yet we've involved almost everyone else in the room," stated Stephanie, turning to face the butler behind her.

"Yes. Your attempt to use the young master to make me jealous was quite childish," he said, grabbing her hands in his, and placing one on his shoulder.

"Well I think you nearly gave Meyrin a heart attack earlier," Stephanie countered, feeling him take a firm grip on her waist, leading her into what would become a rather aggressive dance between the two.

"Be careful Miss Spears, you don't want me as an enemy, and you're walking into a dangerous game that you will without a doubt lose," he said smiling.

"Oh please Sebastian, I was only joking, I'm not really after Ciel's soul, are you really that gullible?" she huffed, before smirking, "Although it was fun to see you squirm," she admitted cheekily.

"Oh really? I bet I could make you do the same," he whispered in her ear before sending her into a spin inhumanly fast and whipping her back toward him so that she was forcefully brought up against his chest, before he lowered into a dip, so low that her hair touched the floor.

As he leaned closer to her, he hesitated, catching sight of the mark on her neck, exposed when he had dipped her, her hair no longer covering it. Although he enjoyed teasing the younger demon, he refrained from going any further, unaware of what might happen. She belonged to another, and he wasn't sure what the effects would be, should he come between that.

Sighing, he brought her back up into a standing position, and he noticed the confused expression on her face.

"Thank you for the lovely dance milady," he said, bowing respectfully.

She curtseyed out of formality but couldn't help but think, that was rather odd.

"You're quite the talented dancer Sebastian, I rather enjoyed that," she winked back.

It had been too late for Elizabeth and Paula to travel back to their manor after the fun had concluded, so they were currently sleeping in the guest quarters.

Ciel had retired to his study, claiming that he wanted to think things over, and Sebastian knocked on the door, with a small slice of cake and hot tea.

Receiving no response he called out, "Young master?" before slightly opening the door.

He smiled as he was met with the sight of a sleeping Ciel, leaning on his desk.

"Oh Bocchan, you really are innocent looking while you're asleep…" he said, setting the cake and tea down before picking up the young boy, glancing at his desk.

The letter Ciel had hidden earlier was strewn across the desk and Sebastian refrained from reading its contents, but couldn't help but notice the envelope that was still lying where he had left it.

The was seal was broken, but the symbol was still intact and could not be mistaken.

_A spider._


End file.
